Peter Jahr


Peter Jahr is a German politician and member of the European Parliament from Germany. He is a member of the Christian Democratic Union, part of the European People's Party.

Early life and education

After Abitur and military service Peter Jahr entered the Karl-Marx-Universität Leipzig to study agricultural science. In 1984 he graduated as Diplom-Landwirt and in 1988 obtained a doctorate.
From 1984 until 1988 he was Research Assistant at the Karl-Marx-Universität Leipzig. In 1988 he joined the Justus von Liebig Landwirtschaftliche Produktionsgenossenschaft as administrator. In 1990 he became manager of the Agrar Gmbh, Taura. Since 1995 he is a sideline farmer.

Political career

Early beginnings

Jahr was a member of the Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany from 1988 to 1990 and joined the Christian Democratic Union in 1990.
From 1990 to 2002, Jahr was Member of the Landtag of Saxony, the German state of Saxony's parliament. He left the Landtag to become a member of the German Bundestag representing the district of Döbeln - Mittweida - Meißen II.

Member of the European Parliament, 2009–present

In 2009 Jahr left the Bundestag to become a Member of the European Parliament. In Parliament, he has since been serving on the Committee on Petitions. In 2019, he also joined the Committee on Regional Development, where he serves as the rapporteur on the reform of the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy. From 2009 until 2019, he was a member of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development.
In addition to his committee assignments, Jahr has been member of the Delegation to the EU-Armenia, EU-Azerbaijan and EU-Georgia Parliamentary Cooperation Committees and the Delegation to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly. He is a substitute on the Committee on Budgets and the Delegation for relations with Iraq. He is also a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on Children’s Rights.
In the negotiations to form a coalition government under the leadership of Chancellor Angela Merkel following the 2017 federal elections, Jahr was part of the working group on agriculture, led by Julia Klöckner, Christian Schmidt and Anke Rehlinger. On the local level, he is a member of the City council of Lunzenau since 1994 and was a member of the District council of Mittweida from 1994 to 2008.

Political positions

Ahead of the Christian Democrats’ leadership election in 2018, Jahr publicly endorsed Friedrich Merz to succeed Angela Merkel as the party’s chair.

Personal life

Jahr is married and has four children.